Saturday, October 9, 2010

The Best Bad Luck I Ever Had

Meet Dit Sims. Dit is thirteen years old, one of ten children, and lives in Moundville, Alabama……in 1917. During the dry, hot days of summer vacation Dit's best friends are away from home and he holds out hope that the new postmaster's children will be the friends he needs for a full and happy summer. When the new postmaster arrives, his one child is the exact opposite of everything he ever imagined a new friend would be, starting with the fact that the family's one child is not a boy but a girl named Emma! It seems as if Dit has hit a patch of bad luck for sure.

There are many more differences between Dit and Emma that make it impossible for them to become even over the-fence-friends. Slowly but surely, Dit and Emma do become friends, even best friends just as Doc, Moundville's only barber is accused of an unthinkable violence. Moreover, Dit and Emma were at the scene of the crime and know that Doc, who is black, did not commit the crime he was accused of committing against a white man in the thorny culture of Jim Crow South--the bedrock of ugly racism and segregation. Together, Dit and Emma combine clever thinking and the strength of their friendship into a plan to save Doc from certain execution. Will they succeed in saving Doc and remaining friends for life? Read, The Best Bad Luck I Ever Had by Kristen Levine to find out where their friendship leads them, Doc and the whole town of Moundville.

The Best Bad Luck I Ever Had is a contender for a Virginia Choice Award in 2011 in the Middle School category.